Sermon: A Sermon for Mothering Sunday
- Preacher:
- Chris Hollingshurst
- Date:
- Sunday 30th March 2025
- Venue:
- Guildford Cathedral
- Service:
- Cathedral Eucharist
I recall from when my now adult children were very young that dressing them could sometimes be challenging. They would need to be in the mood to be dressed and, as they began to learn to speak, gradually began to express their opinions about the outfits that had been selected for them. My wife, their mother – and always more patient than me - would work gently with them and, most mornings, they would eventually emerge from their bedrooms looking presentable.
As they grew a little older, they would, apart from on school uniform days, begin to choose what to wear for themselves, sometimes with some interesting results – but at least they were expressing themselves. Old habits die hard and, looking at them as adults, it is interesting to see that, broadly speaking, the one who made the most effort as a child still goes to the most trouble to match and co-ordinate now, and that the one who mostly didn’t care a generation ago still is rather less bothered now 😊
This morning’s reading from the letter to the Colossians speaks of a different kind of clothing. The first century Colossian church is told: ‘As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.’
How might we clothe ourselves with these attitudes and characteristics?
There is, first, a question of intentional preparation, of thinking about what we want to wear and making sure we put the right things on. Scott Mills, who presents a BBC Radio early morning breakfast show, has to get his physical clothes out the night before so that he doesn’t lose time pondering decisions in the early morning dark. For him, getting the end of the day right sets him up for a good start in the morning.
It’s the same with our spiritual clothing. How we choose to end one day usually affects how we begin the next – yes by trying to ensure that we don’t go to sleep on an argument if we can help it. However, like small children relying on their parents, we need help, in this case from God’s Spirit, to get properly dressed. We can end one day and begin the next by spending time with God in prayer, even briefly. Getting the end of the day right sets us up for a good start in the morning.
Beyond questions of intentional preparation, we also need to consider our motivation.
Hans Christian Anderson wrote a folk tale of an emperor who is obsessed with fancy new clothes, and who spends lavishly on them, at the expense of state matters. One day, two con-men visit the emperor's capital. Posing as weavers, they offer to supply him with magnificent clothes that are invisible to those who are either incompetent or stupid.
The gullible emperor hires them, and they set up looms and pretend to go to work. A succession of officials, starting with the emperor's wise and competent minister, and then ending with the emperor himself, visit them to check their progress. Each sees that the looms are empty but pretends otherwise to avoid being thought a fool.
Finally, the weavers report that the emperor's suit is finished. They mime dressing him and he sets off in a procession before the whole city. The townsfolk uncomfortably go along with the pretence, not wanting to appear inept or stupid, until a child blurts out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all. The people then realize that they have all been fooled. So does the emperor, but in his pride cannot admit to it, and so carries on processing.
Christian people with integrity don’t seek or flatter to deceive. Our relationship with Christ and his people needs to be real and honest, to be so content that we don’t need to go out of our way to impress or fool anyone. For followers of Jesus, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience make for a great and practical everyday outfit, fitting us to bear with one another and practice forgiveness when we need to – which is every day.
There is another application here, though. I know that for much of the time my role here means wearing a clerical shirt to work. I wish I could say that I wear the same sized shirt as when I was ordained but sadly saying that would not be truthful. In a similar vein, a few weeks ago Canon Mavis said, in her 0945 sermon, that it was good practice during Lent and at other times to go through our wardrobes regularly and dispose of anything that no longer fitted or that we no longer needed.
Repeating Mavis’ application here, I know that I sometimes get stuck in bad habits or continue with approaches and spiritual disciples which may have been helpful once, but which no longer feed or equip me. So I begin to drift away from an awareness of God’s presence.
Sometimes I will need to go back to things that have served me well in the past; at other times, more typically for me personally, I will be on the lookout for new ways to encounter the presence of Christ in the Church and in the world. All the same, it does mean, with the help of an all-loving God, adjusting along the way.
What’s the point of saying all this today?
Well it’s this. On this day when we give thanks for all who have nurtured and cared for us, how we nurture and care for one another and, yes, for ourselves really matters. That’s why the writer to the Colossians says: ‘Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.’
If our spiritual clothing is God-given, then it will be appropriately tailored for each of us, but it will first be cut from the same spiritual cloth.
Ultimately it’s a question of love, the love of God which has birthed all creation, the mother-love in which Mary raised Jesus, the love of Jesus that was prepared to go to the cross for love of the whole world, and which through the Spirit of Jesus, lives in the lives of those who welcome that Love for themselves in peace and with thankfulness.
Do you know what is in your spiritual wardrobe? Do you need help putting particular garments on? Do they all still fit?
Today everything is available on the hanging rail. With help when needed, we can choose the right spiritual clothes, for the right reasons, and which, with God’s help, fit us well.
As we give thanks for all who have nurtured us to this point, in this Eucharist we can turn again to the Lord with gratitude embrace the love of God afresh and step out wearing our new outfits well.
In the name of the Father…